What Does Deuteronomy 22:11 Mean in the King James?
Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew names a specific textile blend, sha’atnez (שַׁעַטְנֵז), so the boundary is about wool and linen together, not every kind of mixture.
THE MEANING
The verse marks a precise boundary around what is worn: wool and linen are not joined in one garment. It names the materials and leaves the reason for the boundary unstated.
THE ROOT
תִּלְבַּשׁ
tilbash
GROWS FROM
ל־ב־שׁ
l-b-sh
put on, wear, clothe
“wear” in this verse is tilbash. The Hebrew root links the act of wearing with words for clothing itself. Here the boundary applies at the moment a material becomes a covering on the body: this particular combination is not worn.
ALSO GROWS
levush: garment, clothing
לְבוּשׁ
This noun grows from the same root as “wear,” linking the act to what is put on.
hilbish: to clothe someone
הִלְבִּישׁ
This form makes the act of clothing another person explicit, keeping the same root at the center of the covering.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats distinctions and combinations as consequential: what is separated, joined, or patched can shape the integrity of the whole.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.THE THREAD
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.The verb translated “clothed” is וַיַּלְבִּשֵׁם (wayyalbishem, clothed them), from לָבַשׁ (lavash, to put on or clothe), the same root as “wear” here. Genesis presents clothing as a covering placed on the human; Deuteronomy names a limit on what that covering may be made from.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us